Stares and Bunsen Burners
by ModernForest
Summary: Sasuke hates doing labs with Naruto. He never follows instructions, especially if they're for his own safety. Who would ever like an idiot like him? -SasuHina, AU-
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Characters are not mine.

_Stares and Bunsen Burners  
><em>./-

"It's important for your safety," Kakashi stated to the pouting blonde boy directly in front of him. Naruto, being the rebel that he is, decided he would go without the safety glasses in the chemistry lab on the grounds that it was much more "manly."

And of course, by causing a commotion, he would get Sakura's attention. These two thoughts worked out well for him; he didn't really mind the possibility that he might get acidic compounds into his eyes anyway. As long as he looked manly it was good enough for him. Kakashi had to go by the school rules, being the supervisor, and he knew that _Naruto_, out of anyone else in the class, would have the highest chance of ruining their experiment. He didn't have the heart to break it to the frustrated boy, so he tried to think creatively.

"Just pretend they're sunglasses," he gestured to the eyewear in Naruto's clenched hand. "That's manly, or cool, don't you think?" He tried to smile, getting ready to pass the lab assignment out to the class. After all, time was ticking.

"I guess," Naruto sighed, reluctantly sliding them onto his face while Kakashi sidestepped him and began to explain the assignment.

"Follow the instructions on the sheet," he said. "Your lab groups are taped to the tables. You have the rest of class to finish everything. Lab reports are due tomorrow, typed..." he continued on. Sasuke sighed, placing his head in his hand and waiting for his sheet to be passed to him. He _hated _lab assignments. Especially ones where he had to work with the loudmouth, time-wasting blonde. Sasuke spaced out for a moment while trying to calm his irritation. He tried to work out the chances of having the loudmouth in his group, hoping they weren't too high.

"Got it?" Kakashi finished, reaching the end and slipping the sheet onto Sasuke's desk. He seemed to notice Sasuke's apathy towards the instructions, giving him a warning glance.

"I got it," he huffed, getting out of his chair as the rest of the class pushed one another out of the way in an effortless attempt to read the group labels. Sasuke stood at the edge of the class, reading over the assignment to himself. It was printed in a legible font, boring, but efficient. It was on white paper as well, which Sasuke rather liked in comparison to Iruka's use of multicolored worksheets. He tried to make math fun, though it failed miserably. It was still a worksheet in the end.

"SASUKE!" the blonde shouted from across the room, jumping up and down with his arm in the air. "You're with us!" Of course, Sasuke thought, it was just his luck to be placed in Naruto's group for the fourth time this year.

A few of the girls in the class scowled when they read off the rest of the names, shooting the meek girl beside Naruto mean looks. Sasuke would have overlooked her if it hadn't been for their attention. Not noticing her previously, he assumed she wasn't one of his crazy fangirls. Upon approaching the table, he narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if he knew her. Shrinking back, she gulped visibly and took her place on the opposite side of the table.

"Alright!" Naruto grinned, slipping on his 'sunglasses' and doing a cool pose. "We've got this, guys!"

Sasuke watched her hands shake as she picked up her pencil to write her name on the top of the lab sheet. Trying not to seem that interested, he glanced at it as she finished. _Hinata Hyuuga_. He watched her slip on her own safety glasses, shaking a little under his gaze.

She avoided his eyes as best as she could, looking down to her feet and awkwardly touching the edges of her paper. As much as Sasuke thought about it, he couldn't place where exactly he'd seen her. It was possible that it had only been in this class, though he was sure he'd seen her before. But where?

"S-s-should we start?" she attempted a smile, looking over to Naruto standing next to her. He leaned down, processing her quiet voice, and a second later he shook his head.

"We can't! Our last group member isn't here yet."

Annoyed by this lack of progress and being forced to stand up to work, Sasuke moved quickly to the edge of the table and shoved Naruto's paper out of the way. Before the boy could protest, he had already read the last group member's name. _Shikamaru_.

"I could have gotten hurt!" Naruto pouted, catching the floating paper. Sasuke merely huffed, scanning the classroom for the lazy genius.

"From what? A papercut?" Sasuke retorted absently, finally noticing Shikamaru's sleeping form on one of the far desks.

"Yes," Naruto faked a tear, slapping his lab instructions on the black table and crossing his arms.

"Go wake him up," Sasuke said, turning his head to the side and walking back to his previous position. "We need him."

Naruto didn't want to follow Sasuke's orders, but when realizing he had a chance to wake up a sleeping person, a mischievous grin fell over his features and he crouched down, making his way silently over to Shikamaru's desk.

Sasuke noticed Hinata was watching the ordeal from her place across from him. She tried to smile at him, but it came out faulty. She looked as if she had something to say, but decided against it, picking up her pencil and tapping it on her paper to get away from his gaze.

_"What?"_ Sasuke said to her quite harshly, knowing there was something dying to get out of her.

"U-um, d-d-don't you think that was... a bit um," she paused, still not meeting his eyes. Sasuke waited for her to finish, getting more impatient by the minute as she hesitated. Just as he was about to speak to her again, she finally got the rest of it out. "... mean?"

Sasuke stitched his eyebrows together, thinking the idea was laughable. "You think _that_ was mean?" If she wanted to see mean, she would see mean. That was _nothing_.

"S-s-sorry-" she just managed to get out before being cut off by Naruto's loud, "BOO!"

Most of the class looked to the source of the commotion, though others were too busy working on their assignments. Thirty-two minutes remained. Shikamaru barely moved, slowly picking his head up to look plainly at the frustrated Naruto. A little embarrassed, Naruto stood up and pointed to the black table where Sasuke was twitching his eye at Hinata.

"We have a lab assignment," Naruto explained, moving out of Shikamaru's way as he got up and read over the lab sheet on the way.

The rest of the group members had to admit they were lucky to have a genius like Shikamaru in their group. Sasuke thought it would most likely balance out Naruto's idiocy, bringing the table to a nice equilibrium.

When Shikamaru started work with setting up the correct measurements of the beakers, Sasuke's annoyance faded. He started going through the different places in his mind and trying to figure out where he'd seen the small girl. She was trying to read the labels on the available containers, handing them across the table to Shikamaru as he asked for them.

Naruto stayed out of the business, though it was obvious he was itching for a task to do.

Each time she'd reach out to hand a container to him, she'd have to tuck back a bit of her long hair that spilled onto the table. Sasuke thought she looked like she really needed a hair tie of some sort. When she'd done it about the third time, he realized it probably would have fixed itself if she'd held her head up a little higher.

He let out a breath, thinking that she was also in his calculus class. He wasn't entirely sure, but he wasn't about to ask in order to confirm it. He could make a reference to the color of the paper, seeing if she responded to knowing of Iruka's crazy "math relatable" teaching style. Biting the inside of his mouth, he decided against it, turning his head back down to his lab sheet.

Not knowing where he'd seen her before started to eat away at him. He'd have to figure this out in the next twenty-two minutes, judging by the wall clock. His features became tighter as the time went on, though he was still no closer to figuring out where he'd seen her. He was sure he wouldn't forget strange eyes like hers.

"Now we just have to heat the chemicals and observe the temperature at which they-"

"I'll do it!" Naruto said, pumping a fist in the air.

"Fine," Shikamaru said, stepping aside and letting Naruto have access to the bunsen burner.

Naruto ran to the edge of the table, placing his hand on the knob just as Hinata managed to get the courage to speak up. "W-wait!" she said, holding her hand out. Looking up, Naruto blinked at her. The other two group members didn't have a problem with it, and they were clearly confused until she managed to support her exclamation. "K-kakashi said he'd have to be the one to supervise us w-when we turn it on."

Naruto thought about it for a moment, but decided against it. "Supervise shoompervise!" he said loudly.

"That doesn't even make sense-"

"AHH-"

Naruto's hand had twisted on the bunsen burner, shooting up a large flame and startling the few group members. Naruto, of course, had been standing too close to it, and a small flame had dropped onto his coat. Originally small, it quickly evolved into a big fire. Naruto had managed to throw the zipper down on his large orange jumpsuit-which looked to be fire retardant in Sasuke's opinion, but clearly wasn't-tossing it on the ground and attempting to stamp out the flames.

Kakashi approached two seconds later with a fire extinguisher, sighing as the carbon dioxide engulfed Naruto's precious orange jacket. Sasuke sighed, leaning over the black table and placing his head in his hands. "I'm done," he said quietly, shaking his head while trying to block out Naruto's crazed wails of, "My jacket! My jacket!"

"That's why I said _supervise_. You weren't listening, were you, cool guy?" Kakashi 'tsk'ed, shaking his head. The entire class had their attention on the exchange, a few laughing, the others relieved that the blinding orange jacket would be unwearable in its current condition. "But I guess you were bored with being _cool_, hm?" Kakashi was on his last nerve with Naruto's behavior, packing the fire extinguisher back up.

"S-sasuke-san?" Hinata had tried to bring him out of his annoyed state. Sasuke picked his head up, giving her an icy look. Then something hit him: he knew where he'd seen her before! It wasn't just in one place at one time like he'd originally thought. She was always there. She was everywhere. The shots started flashing into Sasuke's mind one after another. Of course...

She'd been standing near his locker attempting to talk to the blonde boy about every week, sometimes getting the courage to say hi, other times not.

She'd been just around the corner after school, anxiously glancing over her shoulder in paranoia as she walked to her house.

She'd been in his calculus class, trying to read off the blinding yellow paper Iruka provided.

She'd been carrying around a little box of chocolate on Valentine's day. Purple paper, white ribbon. Sasuke had remembered it, but when he went through his own goodies it hadn't been there. He'd seen the wrapping paper in the trash near Naruto's locker, the boy with massive chocolate stains on his mouth as he walked into the next class.

She was that one girl. The one girl in the entire school who liked _Naruto_.

He'd remembered!

As much as he hung around the blonde idiot, or rather, as much as the blonde idiot hung around him, he'd seen a lot of her.

He stood up straight, looking at her directly. Yes, it was definitely her who had been lurking around, never very far away from Naruto.

"A-are you okay?" she asked, finding her voice after a pause. She met his eyes for a brief second, looking away, back again, then away until she felt the need to have her attention rest on her pencil.

"I'm fine..." he trailed off, turning his attention back to their experiment. Shikamaru had moved the chemicals into the sink, logically concluding that they wouldn't have permission-or time-to finish their experiment. Sasuke looked at the clock. Ten minutes.

Shikamaru had gone back to his desk, packing up everything while Naruto was being escorted to the principal's office for once again disregarding the rules.

Sasuke and Hinata were left alone at the table, though it was clear Hinata didn't feel comfortable talking to him despite the fact that he was her crush's best friend.

The rest of the groups were finishing their labs, getting frantic in the time crunch. Sasuke merely stood there, wondering if Kakashi even expected a lab report for their group. He glanced over at her, thinking of asking about it, but saw her pushing her long hair over her ear again. She _really_ needed a hair tie, he thought.

Getting a little frustrated at the silence, he wondered how she'd react when being confronted directly. So he simply stated, "You like Naruto."

He watched her jump, letting go of her hair and putting her hands up in front of her. She waved them frantically, denying it. "W-... what? I-I, um, N-naruto is very nice b-but-"

Sasuke chuckled, actually _chuckled_. "You can't deny it. I know."

She stopped moving momentarily, closing in on herself and tugging at part of her jacket. "H-how do you know f-for sure?"

"It's obvious." He shifted his position, trying to get her to look him in the eyes, but she felt too embarrassed to do so. "So, what are you going to do?"

"W-what do you mean?" she replied, glancing at the clock and hoping for an escape. Five minutes left.

"I _mean_, you know he likes Sakura. What are you going to do about her?" He was interested. She was fairly smart; she probably had a well-thought out plan for getting Naruto to reciprocate her feelings.

"Nothing?" she asked to the air, reaching up to fix her hair again. Sasuke was getting a little annoyed by the constant action, though he said nothing about it.

"Nothing," Sasuke repeated, giving her a look. "So you're saying, if you like somebody, you wouldn't do anything about it?"

"P-probably n-not," she admitted, looking back down at her shoes.

Sasuke thought about it for a moment and figured that his next birthday wish would definitely be that his entire fanclub had the same idea she did.

Still, Sasuke thought the idea was crazy, though he didn't figure the passive Hyuuga girl would be able to actively beat Sakura out of the picture. She was much too nice.

"You should," Sasuke advised, sticking his hands in his pockets. "He's oblivious, you know."

Hinata nodded, but Sasuke knew she didn't take his advice to heart. She reached up to fix her hair again, finally asking Sasuke the question she wanted to get off her chest. "Do you know w-what he likes? I-I could maybe d-do something for him or-"

"He likes food," Sasuke said. "Particularly ramen."

"B-but what kind? Or flavor? D-...do you know?"

"Any kind, I guess. He likes Ichiraku ramen. I'm sure if you offered to treat him there, he'd go with you."

She blushed as she thought about it, then smiled and thanked Sasuke for the advice. He didn't reply, so she continued, "Do you like ramen too, S-Sasuke?"

"Not really."

"Then, what do you l-like?"

"You're not going to give me something, are you?" he asked her, moving his brows a little closer together.

She shook her head. "N-not if you don't want me to."

He blinked, thinking it was rather easy to talk to her. She wasn't crazy. She was quiet, which Sasuke liked. Short responses, no complaining. He crossed his arms, looking her over. She was insecure about herself, but she was nice, probably to a fault. He tilted his head to the side, watching Hinata glance at the clock and pick up her pencil. It was almost time to go.

"Did Kakashi say anything about lab reports?" Sasuke asked her before she could raise her hand in a small goodbye wave.

"H-he wants them tomorrow," she replied, giving him a small smile.

He started to walk to the edge of the table, thinking their conversation was over, but he turned a little and caught her attention before she completely departed.

"By the way," he cleared his throat a little, "I like tomatoes."

He watched her smile wider at him, the small blush finding its way to her cheeks as she took in that bit of information.

Sasuke couldn't help but think she was interesting. And she was interested in _Naruto_?

How uncool.

(A/N: I might continue this? Also, I don't actually know if bunsen burners can do that, but I assume they can. I mean, it's fire. Thank you for reading!)


	2. Chapter 2

_Stares and Bunsen Burners  
>Chapter 2<br>_./-

It was obvious Hinata Hyuuga was shy. The way she poked her fingers together and avoided eye contact from mostly everyone practically screamed it like an angry coach through a megaphone. The teachers had come to accept this fact, often giving the small Hyuuga a smile when she had come to apologize for her bad grades. She was embarrassed, clearly taught to be so by the more "brilliant" minds of the Hyuuga clan. The students of this school knew how to treat her, but sometimes it doesn't reach everyone.

The most oblivious, in particular: Naruto.

She'd taken to him immediately despite this, feeling comfortable in his presence. Everyone did, even Sasuke, though he'd never admit it out loud. But today something was off about the usual bubbly boy. He wasn't wearing his orange jacket, for one. The next was that his perpetual smile was replaced by a slight frown. He had been assigned detention for two weeks for not following the safety rules in yesterday's lab, removing half of his lunch period.

_Serves him right_, Sasuke thought. Sasuke wouldn't have to put up with Naruto's incessant talking now, since he barely had time to eat before having to leave and scrape gum off the bottoms of desks.

Sasuke spent the next half of lunch with the rest of his group, barely listening to them chatter. No, he had something else on his mind. _Tomatoes_.

It was already halfway into the day and Sasuke was wondering where his tomatoes were.

He watched Hinata eat happily two tables away, munching on her home cooked meal. He straightened his back a little, trying to get a peek inside of her lunchbox. No tomatoes.

He ducked his head a little and tried to see inside her bag, but there were no tomatoes there either. Maybe she'd misheard him. It was common knowledge that Sasuke Uchiha never asked for favors; everyone had to read between the lines. When he'd mentioned he liked tomatoes, he meant he _wanted_ tomatoes.

He pouted a little, impaling a piece of chicken with his chopsticks.

Lunch had only confirmed his growing suspicion: Hinata was as oblivious as Naruto. It wasn't as obvious, but she concentrated hard on one task and blocked out the rest of the world. He watched her open her thermos, momentarily tuning out Kiba's talking so she could make sure she got it right. When she finished, she looked back to him, a small look of confusion reaching her face when she tried to figure out what he was rambling about. Sasuke noticed she didn't talk much, preferring to answer with polite facial expressions and simple nods. She was nice, probably too nice. Oblivious, too. Sasuke almost wanted to get up from his table, walk over there, and _demand_ tomatoes. He watched her smile, laughing at a joke he couldn't hear, and decided against it.

If she didn't get it, she probably never would. Sasuke felt disappointed, almost pitying her as he watched her eat. Reasons like that were why she would probably be scammed one day. Her eyes widened a little as she listened to Kiba's story (which was mostly false anyway, he was sure). She seemed to accept everything as truth, just getting more into the story as he progressed.

Sasuke huffed, looking away. He was annoyed at himself for not remembering her, though it was understandable. She didn't speak unless spoken to-probably another one of the Hyuuga's politeness training ideas-shaking her head and nodding at all the right times.

He was sure that if he had asked her for tomatoes directly she would have brought them to him, probably giving them over before the first bell even rang.

She planned too much, always searching for the best way to do things even in simple tasks. Talking to Naruto would be considered easy but with Hinata's crushing shyness towards the boy, it was almost impossible unless she had every detail planned perfectly.

Hinata did have a plan for how she would ask Naruto for ramen. She'd worked hard, planning the time and place she would do it, including what exactly she would say to him. She waited until later in the school day before she approached him, knowing that the closer it was to the end of the school day, the happier Naruto was.

She watched him for a second, preparing herself for a moment before approaching him at his locker. She had her lab notebook in hand, gripping it probably a little too tightly as she gave herself the usual pep-talk. He'd accept her offer to go to Ichiraku's like Sasuke said he would, then they'd have a few more dates and he'd fall in love with her and they'd get married and move into the coziest house-

Hinata didn't want to get herself too worked up, but she knew she'd have a chance this time. Even if he didn't like her just yet, she would still get to go somewhere with him. For her, that was enough.

She smiled, walking up to Naruto and greeting him with a cheerful, "Hello!"

He looked at her for a short moment, barely enough time for her to politely smile at him. He didn't reply immediately, preferring to concentrate on stuffing his Economics book into his locker. She waited a few seconds, but he still didn't reply. As she looked closer, she noticed something was different with him. This confused her momentarily, but she continued with her careful planning. She held up her lab notebook between them, covering a small part of her face. "I-I have the lab report! If you need it," she said. It was easier to talk to Naruto when she had some sort of armor, even if it was made out of 70 sheets of cheap paper.

"No thanks." He said this quite distinctly, giving the textbook a push and pulling his face further into a frown.

She pulled the notebook down a little. "It's all correct. Chouji helped me-"

"I don't want it, no thanks," he said again, finally getting the textbook to fit amongst the others. Hinata bit her lip a little, not expecting that. Usually Naruto would actively search for people's homework to copy, and yet he was declining her offer?

She licked her lips, shifting a little. He wasn't acting like his usual self at all. The more she looked at him, the more she felt that his actions resembled the brooding Uchiha rather than the bubbly Naruto.

_Scary_, she thought.

Hinata figured that maybe ramen would cheer him up, so she decided to move on to the next step in her plan. She pulled the notebook down, momentarily forgetting about it as she concentrated on her next question.

"Would you like to go for ramen? W-with me? At Ichiraku's," she added in quickly, seeing he wasn't perking his ears at the word 'ramen.' When she noticed he still didn't react, she continued with, "I'll pay for it-"

"I'm not really in the mood for ramen," he admitted, not realizing how hard this was for her. "So, no," he started to zip his bag up, making Hinata's heart beat a little faster. She tried to think of something else to say to make him stay but he closed his locker and walked away, giving her a casual, "See you around, then."

The words hung in her throat when she watched him swing his bag over his shoulder and walk down the hallway. It took her a moment to realize the small pain in her fingers was coming from her tight squeeze on the notebook. She had to look at it to remember it was there, her heart beating a little.

_Rejection_. It echoed in her mind as she looked down at her shoes, trying to think of what went wrong. Was it her? The way she phrased the question? Maybe he was just having a bad day. Everyone had them, even Naruto. Hinata couldn't help but feel the conversation would have turned out the same even if he wasn't having a bad day.

She didn't blame Sasuke, instead blaming herself for thinking Sasuke's advice would have worked. Why would he help her, anyway? Sasuke Uchiha didn't help anyone with anything.

She heard somebody clear their throat, her head snapping back up and meeting the eyes of Sasuke himself. Standing there. Staring at her. She opened her mouth, wondering if she had the ability to speak. She closed it a moment later, not wanting to take the chance of making an even bigger fool out of herself if she couldn't.

He was standing rather close to her, she noticed, wondering if he was trying to tell her something. She thought about it for a moment, but couldn't figure it out. Was he angry? He appeared to get angrier with each passing moment, his stare morphing into his signature glare.

"You're in front of my locker," Sasuke finally blurted.

_Oh_, she thought. She moved back a little bit, watching him calm himself down and touch the lock. "S-sorry," she said, observing his eyes as they calculated each turn of the small wheel. "I-I didn't know it was yours."

"Uzumaki. Uchiha. They're close together. It's alphabetical."

Hinata agreed, nodding a little. It made sense; it was logical. Sasuke was good at that.

He opened it, revealing a clear contrast to Naruto's locker. Everything was organized, labeled, dusted, and clean, while Naruto practically had to play Tetris when he visited his. Sasuke caught her looking inside of it while her mind wandered. He didn't mind her company as long as she wasn't bothering him about something, though he was still a little annoyed that she didn't bring him any tomatoes when he'd asked for them yesterday (in his own way, of course).

"D-... Did you see that?" Hinata asked, referring to her conversation with Naruto. Sasuke picked up on it, replying with a simple, 'Yes.'

Things were quiet between the two, Sasuke hoping that she wouldn't bring up his semi-false advice. But of course, she did.

"He said no..."

"I'm aware," Sasuke said. He figured it was fair. She didn't bring him any tomatoes, so she wouldn't get her wish.

He straightened up the inside of his locker, wondering what she thought about him. She had to be angry at him, didn't she? After all, she'd just been rejected by going through with his advice.

He didn't care much in the end. She had the perfect opportunity to get into his good graces today and she didn't take the opportunity. Fair is fair.

Glancing to the side briefly, he saw he searching through her bag for something. He refused to make eye contact with her, concentrating on finishing the task at hand.

He barely saw her small hand reach past him and place a plain, covered box into his locker.

"Thank you anyway," he heard her say, just audibly. When he'd processed it and thought to turn and ask her what it was, she had already walked away.

He reached for the box and took the lid off quickly. Inside were four of the brightest tomatoes he'd ever seen, sitting in the spaces between a piece of shiny purple fabric. He picked one up, admiring it: smooth, perfect texture, bright color. They were perfect.

So she _had_ gotten them. He felt his initial happiness fade away, being replaced by a sense of self-disappointment. He thought maybe he'd been too quick to judge her. Maybe she wasn't as oblivious as he'd thought, after all. Or maybe she was just being polite. He ran his finger across the surface, feeling a little annoyed at the thought of being proven wrong.

When he looked back inside at the others, he noticed there was a piece of paper peeking out from the edge of the fabric. Placing the juicy tomato back in place, he slid it out and scanned it.

_Thank you for your advice. I will do my best!_

Now he just felt like a jerk.

./-

(A/N: I wasn't expecting so many reviews! I was really surprised! I think I'll continue this, by the way. I have to get my thoughts together and everything, so updates might be a little slow. Also, Timeofknight pointed out that bunsen burners are gas and not fire, so they can't really burn you like that without starting a spark. Still though, you should follow those safety rules. I'm also sorry this chapter wasn't more lighthearted, but I hope you enjoyed reading it anyway!)


	3. Chapter 3

_Previously on Stares and Bunsen Burners_: Sasuke is a jerk. Naruto is a jerk. Hinata is sad.

Now presenting the third installment:

_Stares and Bunsen Burners  
>Chapter 3<em>  
>.-

"_Sa_-suke," Naruto whispered, waving his hand from a few tables down and trying to get the Uchiha's attention.

Mrs. Kurenai had assigned a twelve page English paper to "help" the students with their writing, requiring them to include a variety of different types of sources in their essay. This meant they had to include print sources; more precisely, they were required to include at least three. Loud groans and pouty faces were made when they found out they couldn't copy everything from a single website, though a few whispered to themselves that they'd probably just do that anyway.

She'd assigned a library day for the purpose of gathering reading materials, though most of the class was either asleep or pretending to read so they could text under the table.

Sasuke actually _wanted_ to get his work done, preferring to ignore Naruto who had gotten distracted from trying to read the comic book he hid behind the cover of a dictionary.

"_Sasuke_," he said again, a little louder.

Ignore.

"_SASU_-_KAY_," he said, using his hands as an amplifier and getting the attention of Sakura who was trying to read. She held up a fist in warning, and he quieted instantly.

_Good_, Sasuke thought, picking up where he'd left off. He'd barely read a sentence when he felt something collide with his head. It didn't hurt, but it bounced off and landed on the shiny table in front of him. He noticed it was a crumpled up paper ball and turned his head to glare at Naruto- - the source.

_"What?"_ he mouthed insensitively as Naruto gestured for him to open it.

Sasuke huffed, reaching out and uncrumpling it quite angrily.

_Can I have 20 dollars?_

Sasuke replied by ripping Naruto's chicken-scratch note in half and letting the pieces fall slowly down the table. He turned his attention back to the book, hoping that was the end of their small conversation.

But it wasn't.

He heard Naruto slide out the chair next to him and sit down, starting to whisper.

"Please? I really need it. I have to buy a new jacket and I'm short, so-"

"I said no," Sasuke repeated and faced the blonde boy when he recognized he wouldn't be able to get any work done unless Naruto had left him alone.

"I'll do anything! I feel so lost without it. I was so depressed yesterday. I didn't even want ramen, Sasuke. I didn't even want _ramen_."

When Sasuke didn't reply, only glaring and scooting away slightly, Naruto started to plead.

"I'll do anything! 20 dollars is like, how many hours of work? I'll rake your yard, I'll do your homework-"

"Don't do my homework," Sasuke said. He'd fail that class.

"Oh come on," Naruto said, leaning over the desk and trying to pull off a sad expression. He reached out for the scraps of his note and brought a piece to his face, pretending to wipe away fake tears.

Sasuke thought he'd pay Naruto just to stop making that face. He huffed, leaning back a little and thinking about what had been plaguing his mind.

He still felt guilty about judging Hinata too soon; a slight tug in his chest came up every time he looked at her. He wanted that gone.

Sighing, he pulled out his wallet and began to look through it. Naruto's face lit up, preparing to reach and take the money, but Sasuke stopped his search.

"You have to do something for me. Don't screw it up."

Naruto nodded. Anything for his new jacket!

Sasuke located the money, showing it to Naruto briefly before closing his wallet and pulling it back.

"Listen carefully."

Naruto nodded again, though his eyes still focused on the green edge of the bill.

"You see that girl over there?" He pointed to Hinata who was currently trying to take three heavy textbooks to her table at once. She nearly tripped, blushing a little from embarrassment and hoping nobody saw.

"Yeah?" Naruto peered, watching her set them down and smile at her small achievement.

"Tell her that...- Are you listening?" he asked, realizing Naruto seemed to be spacing out.

"Yes, I'm listening!" he shouted, getting a 'shh!' from Sakura. He pouted, but was silent.

"Tell her Sasuke says he's..." he paused for a moment, not particularly wanting to say the word out loud. "Tell her that I apologize."

Already, Sasuke felt relieved. Those tomatoes were delectable, and he knew she was probably upset about being rejected merely for following his advice. It was unfair, and he knew he had to make up for it.

"Okay. That's it?" Naruto said, watching Hinata sit down and look through one of the books. Shino noticed she had one he needed, walking up to her and attempting to borrow it. She nodded and watched him take it, going back to his place on the floor.

"Tell her I apologize, and thank her." Sasuke thought it was simple enough. After Shino had left to sit with the bugs and dirt, she was alone and approachable. After this, Sasuke would be guilt-free and rid of this whole situation- -finally.

Naruto took the twenty dollars and stuffed it in his pocket as he approached Hinata, repeating the words he was supposed to say over and over in his mind. _Sorry, I apologize,_ and _thank you_.

He got to her table, seeing her look up at him like a deer in headlights. She really didn't want to be around him now, thanks to yesterday's rejection. He sat down in front of her nonchalantly, disregarding her fear for the moment and attempting to start conversation with the quiet girl.

He smiled a little, clearing his throat. "I just talked to Sasuke," he started, seeing her turn her head a little and try to smile back, though it came out fragmented and shaky. She didn't say anything. "I came to tell you sorry."

She had stopped smiling entirely, pushing her pencil around. Naruto was apologizing for rejecting her? She didn't know whether or not to believe it.

He appeared to be happier and more normal today, but she still felt confused. The normally bubbly and caring Naruto had hurt her yesterday. She wasn't sure whether or not to trust him again, bringing her attention back and trying to read this face. He _did_ look better. She smiled a little bit, her eyes jumping between his own.

"And 'I apologize,' too," Naruto said, grinning.

Hinata felt a real smile reach her face, examining the situation. He was probably only having a bad day yesterday. It was partly her fault for asking him at the wrong time, she reasoned, knowing Naruto didn't mean to hurt her. He came to apologize, didn't he? Apologizing meant he had to care about her at least a little bit.

"And one more thing..." Naruto trailed off in thought, placing a hand on his chin and trying to remember exactly what Sasuke had said to do. It came to him after a moment, his face lighting up. "Oh, and thank you!"

"R-really?" Hinata said, barely believing it. Naruto thanked her. Maybe hope wasn't so gone for their potential relationship?

"Yes, really! Honestly, it's true!"

Hinata felt overjoyed; Sasuke had gotten Naruto to apologize for yesterday! She'd have to bring him more tomatoes, she decided. She felt like flying, watching Naruto smile at her like that. He got up from his chair, preparing to leave, though Hinata didn't mind.

"See you later," he said, brightening his grin and giving her a small wave. She barely waved back; her mind was too focused on the meanings of that phrase.

See you later as in, he'd see her later in school? Or had he wanted to get ramen today, meaning that he'd see her there later? She knew it must be the first one, however the possibility of the second one stayed with her.

Maybe she'd ask him for ramen again; he looked better today. When he was completely gone, she located Sasuke.

He was looking at her, appearing to be a combination of confused, stunned, and annoyed all at the same time.

Sasuke had heard Naruto's entire conversation with Hinata, realizing he had failed probably the most simple task Sasuke could have _ever _given him. He knew Hinata had misinterpreted Naruto's words, but she looked ecstatic. He didn't know if he should correct it: it would crush her spirit, but it would be the truth.

He watched Hinata take one of her pens, turning her notebook sideways and writing a message. A minute later she held it up for Sasuke to read.

_Thank you._

She smiled. No, he couldn't take that away from her. Not even Sasuke was that mean. _Ignorance is bliss_, he thought. She got back to work, the smile continuing to reside on her face as she flipped through the pages of the reference books.

Even if his apology hadn't gotten through, he had made her happy. That made up for the tomatoes, didn't it? He wasn't guilty anymore, feeling the annoyance wash away as he watched her smile.

He'd done something _nice_, even if he hadn't meant to. It felt good.

./-

He spent the rest of the day thinking about it. Sasuke Uchiha? Nice? The more he thought, the more he became conflicted. On one hand, he felt good. On the other, he had to tell her the truth. He'd given Hinata false hope by accident, _again_, and being his pessimistic self, he knew something bad was just _bound_ to happen.

He stood by the water fountain, watching Hinata smile and walk happily down the hallway. She didn't notice him there, strutting directly past. He thought he heard her humming something, but he couldn't be sure.

Sighing, he felt that guilt start to come back.

He had to say something.

He followed behind her, getting closer and wondering how he'd be able to phrase it. He didn't want to completely crush her, but he wanted to tell her the truth.

_Hey, Hinata, Naruto didn't mean what he said._

Wrong.

_I paid Naruto 20 bucks to go and talk to you for me._

Also wrong.

_Naruto is an idiot and screwed everything up._

Maybe.

While off in his mind, he barely noticed Hinata had stopped in the middle of the hallway. Luckily, not too many people were around so he was able to hold his arms out to steady himself. He had nearly crashed into her, getting just close enough to smell the lavender shampoo she used. _Strange_, he thought.

He composed himself, backing up and wondering what stopped her so quickly. When he turned his attention to the source, he gulped.

Naruto and Sakura.

It wasn't bad, no, but he was holding a huge bouquet of flowers which looked bizarre in itself.

Where had Naruto gotten _that_? It was definitely more expensive than the twenty dollars he gave him this morning. They were fresh and new; Sasuke could swear he could smell them as far away as he was. They were assorted, though looked to be arranged tastefully enough. He couldn't have done that all by himself.

Naruto held them out to Sakura, smiling and asking her quite loudly, "Will you go out with me?"

Sakura put her hands up to her mouth in surprise, staring down at the arrangement. "Naruto, it's beautiful..." she said, reaching out to take it. "Where did you get these?" she admired it, pressing her face into a patch of the daisies to get a poignant whiff.

"Heh, heh! You know the place next to the memorial site?" he asked, scratching the back of his head and grinning, clearly considering himself to be a genius.

Sakura froze. "You mean, the _graveyard?_" She turned her attention towards him, hoping Naruto wasn't serious.

"Yep!" he grinned, placing his hands on his hips and puffing his chest out.

Sakura blinked, letting it sink in. "You took these off somebody's _grave?_"

"Yep!"

She threw them away, repulsed. "You... YOU _IDIOT!_" She screamed, powering up and punching Naruto square in the head. He staggered, coughing and trying to compose himself.

"Sakura, what the heck! That actually hurt!" he whined, looking at her like a scared puppy. He'd stepped back a little bit, seeing Sakura pick the flowers up and throw them harshly into the nearest trash can.

She put on her most frightening glare, making him gulp. Shaking her head, she started to leave. "I can't believe I almost said _yes_," she growled, stomping past Sasuke and Hinata in her angry daze.

Naruto stood there, bewildered. He could _not_ figure out what he'd done wrong. Flowers were flowers! Did it really matter where they came from?

He watched her leave, noticing the two standing there. Hinata looked at him for a quick second, stepping back and almost colliding with Sasuke again. Making a quick left, she hurried down the adjoining hallway and away from the disappointing scene.

Sasuke followed her almost immediately, leaving the blonde idiot abruptly alone and very, _very_ confused.

"What just happened?"

./-

(A/N: Yay chapter three! I should mention that I accept constructive criticism and flames; I never really said that before. I want to turn this story from something you just 'like' into something you really 'LOVE,' so anything and everything is welcome. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)


	4. Chapter 4

(:A/N: Yes, lateish update. I like this, but I also don't really like this. You can decide for yourself! Also, time should start moving faster now that they're getting close, so stick with me, alright? Oh, and this chapter doesn't have much humor in it, so if that's what you're looking for, I'm sorry. It's an obligatory chapter.)

_Stares and Bunsen Burners  
>Chapter 4<em>  
>.-

There were two main reasons Sakura liked Sasuke.

For one, he was attractive. Not just a simple attractive, either. Sakura thought Sasuke's looks had been blessed by the powers of the great beyond: God, Kami, or even _Jashin_ like that weird upperclassman believed.

For two, he didn't mind her forehead. It wasn't especially big at all, heck, you could barely even notice the difference.

However, in Sasuke's terms, "not minding" means, "not caring." Sasuke didn't care about her big forehead, mostly because Sasuke didn't care about anything at all.

Sasuke was the stoic person everyone had always known, but on this warm afternoon she saw him actually _smile_.

It wasn't his normal turn-of-the-mouth-corners she'd been lucky enough to witness when Naruto face planted into the sidewalk. But as for a real smile? She'd never seen it.

Sakura had to do a double-take when she saw Sasuke was smiling down at a girl. Not just any girl, either. It was the one girl Sakura never expected to get between her and Sasuke. _Hinata_.

Sakura watched the her laugh at whatever had taken place between the two, then turn expertly on her heel and brush past Sasuke. She gave just enough time for a short wave and a cute, "Bye!" before she turned and walked down the hallway, letting her long, dark hair follow behind her.

She expected this to be the end of their encounter, but Sakura watched- -horrified- - as Sasuke turned to watch Hinata's form disappear within the crowd of students.

As much as Sakura tried to work through the event in her mind, nothing abnormal grabbed her attention. Hinata looked fine, healthy, and there was nothing out of the ordinary that could've made Sasuke smile like that.

Sakura was intelligent, sure, but each one of the possibilities she came up with didn't fit the situation.

Unless they were friends?

But even Sasuke didn't smile at his friends like _that_.

It was impossible.

./-

./-

_24 hours earlier_

./-

.

.

Sasuke didn't think Hinata was stupid. No, stupidity was reserved for people like Naruto. He thought she was too trusting, too gullible.

Too innocent.

He followed her down the hallway after Naruto's not-so-innocent proposal to Sakura, wondering who to blame for the situation.

It could be herself, for listening to Naruto. She was responsible for her own heartbreak here, and probably most of the other times she's been let down.

It could be Naruto, though he hadn't meant to hurt her.

It could have even been Sasuke himself for creating the cluster that was this day.

He felt himself frown as he watched her close in on herself, the signs beginning to emerge: clutching of her bag, lowering of the head, the blackout of the world.

She slowed herself down, forcing her thoughts to shift somewhere else to self-preserve herself from the heartbreak.

He almost felt _bad_ for her, but he would have to explain. He was sure she would understand if it was all a misunderstanding, then they could both go back to their lives and Sasuke would be guilt-free and be done with the whole thing.

She stopped near the end of the hallway, her feet making the smallest noise as she straightened her posture.

Sasuke knew she had probably gone through the entire thing before. She spent long enough being sad, probably angry, and now starting to get over it. It had all been rather quick; she had recognized what was happening.

Sasuke had done the same thing, even perfecting it to go through the stages so quickly so it seemed as if he hadn't cared to begin with.

He felt like he was invading, watching her like this. He cleared his throat, but she didn't move.

He watched her breathe in and out, clearing her mind, and he found his hand start to move up and lightly touch her shoulder.

She jumped immediately, spinning and nearly falling down again. Frantically, her eyes searched around and rested on him just as he had shoved his hand back into one of his pockets.

"O-oh, it's you..." she trailed off, fixing her bag strap and trying to search his face for some sort of clue.

He turned his attention to the side, glaring slightly at the patch of lockers on the wall. What did_ that_ mean? He let her linger for a moment or two before finally stating, "You're going home?"

Deciding on a simple "Yes," Hinata tried to smile and lighten him up, though it came out faulty.

He barely noticed, walking past her and saying, "I have to talk to you."

He kept walking, confusing Hinata as she hurried to turn around and keep up with the dark-haired boy. She wondered if they were going somewhere, though it was obvious the Uchiha had expected her to follow him.

Sasuke was quiet as they meandered the last few short hallways of the labyrinth, reaching the front of the school and exiting. Hinata didn't ask what they needed to talk about, knowing he wouldn't speak until he was entirely ready.

It had taken her mind off of Naruto, instead drawing her attention to Sasuke's mystery. She had wondered if he'd seen Naruto's proclamation, though he gave no sign that he did.

He stepped down the concrete stairs of the school entrance, glancing over his shoulder to make sure she was following.

Hinata calmed herself down more when they reached the sidewalk, moving under the shade of the trees as Sasuke led her in her home's general direction. He slowed down a little, allowing her enough space to walk beside him in the silence.

After a few lengths, Hinata started to get uneasy. She wondered if what he had to say was meant to be a secret, seeing as how he had waited for the two of them to be completely alone. The crazy scenarios being developed in her mind were cut off by his short sentence:

"Naruto is an idiot."

There, he had gotten that out of the way. Judging by the way she adored him, Sasuke figured she had no idea.

He expected more of a shock from the young Hyuuga, but only got a questioning glance. She looked up at him, waiting for him to continue.

"But you like him."

She jumped at this, starting to stutter and brush her fingers through her hair. As much as she tried to deny it, Sasuke knew it was true.

"Why?" he asked.

Sasuke honestly couldn't see anyone liking _Naruto_, and the fact that she did scared him a little.

Hinata liked Naruto for many reasons, but she didn't expect Sasuke to understand any of them. Naruto was smart, but Sasuke was smarter. Naruto was attractive, but even Hinata had to admit Sasuke was the more attractive of the two. Naruto tried his best, but Sasuke always did better.

None of these things would get through to Sasuke, so she decided on saying the one edge Naruto did have over Sasuke.

"He's nice," Hinata told him, making his chest tighten as he processed her words. "To me."

Sasuke didn't think that mattered, but it hit home somewhere. _Nice guys finish last_, Sasuke tried to remind himself.

"He obviously isn't," Sasuke said, bringing up her heartbreak.

She shook her head. "I-I know he isn't the smartest person..." Smiling now, she finished, "but he knows right and wrong. He didn't mean it."

Sasuke frowned. "So?"

She ignored his question as they reached the end of the street, stepping out into the sun momentarily.

Hinata knew Sasuke was frustrated. As much as he tried to hide it with bad attempts at conversation, she could tell, but Hinata was nice enough not to point it out. "What did you want to talk about?"

Once under the shade of the trees again, Sasuke answered.

"It was a misunderstanding," he explained. "In the library. I told Naruto to go talk to you for me."

"For you?" Hinata asked. "You didn't w-want to?"

Sasuke kept his eyes ahead, being careful not to look at her directly when he spoke.

"He's better at that than I am," he said.

A few seconds of silence passed before Hinata finally admitted, "I don't understand."

He huffed a little, making Hinata clutch the strap of her bag. He'd have to spell out everything for her, wouldn't he?

"Thank you. For the tomatoes." Her head snapped up at him, hardly believing his words.

"You're welcome!" Hinata said, in awe. She felt a smile fall across her features as Sasuke glanced down at her for a split second. He looked almost embarrassed, but it was hard to notice under the shade of the trees.

She realized how hard this was for him, attempting to move the conversation along so he wouldn't feel overwhelmed or embarrassed.

"I got them from the garden at my house. I-it's not big, but I like to use them when I cook. D-did you like them?"

"I did..." he trailed off.

"Good," she said, allowing herself to calm down a little more. "Y-you could grow your own, too. It's very easy."

"Maybe," he said, shrugging. "I don't like getting dirty," he said, referring to the mud. Immediately after saying it, he thought it was a bit harsh.

Hinata didn't seem to mind, quickly asking him, "What do you like to do?"

He blinked, not expecting that. He figured Hinata was just being friendly, and he didn't want to reveal anything too personal to her. "Nothing."

She figured he would say that, but she knew he had to like doing _something_. She didn't press it, understanding him enough to know he wouldn't tell her no matter what she did.

Sasuke thought Hinata gave up easily, but he was relieved when she didn't start jumping around him and demanding the information like Sakura and Ino used to do.

Sasuke took a breath in, feeling calm now. He didn't think Hinata was so bad. She was passive, like him.

He had put the second part off for too long now; it was time.

Speaking normally, he stared straight ahead and said it:

"I'm sorry."

Hinata looked up at him immediately, though he made sure to keep his body neutral as he continued staring ahead.

Hinata really didn't know what it was for. She guessed he felt responsible for both of her rejections, though she hadn't blamed him for it.

She let a few seconds of silence pass before she smiled and said, "I forgive you."

Sasuke found a small smile on his face, relaxed now. He'd been worried for nothing. She hadn't bothered to ask him what it was for, yet she still accepted it.

No, Hinata wasn't bad at all. She might be a little clumsy, sometimes oblivious, but she wasn't a bad person. He felt the smile fade, letting the moment pass.

"Are you going to ask Naruto out for ramen again?" he asked, taking the time to look down at her when he was talking.

He watched her smile a little and look down at the pavement, laughing fakely. "I-I don't know. Maybe I should just give up? Haha," she said, her smile growing.

Sasuke thought about it, pondering it himself. If it was only going to end in more heartbreak, which it was likely going to since Naruto liked Sakura, then Sasuke decided, "Probably..."

It hurt Hinata to hear that, but she knew Sasuke would be honest with her.

"Do you think I should?" she asked, attentive.

He avoided her eyes, pretending to focus on the quiet intersection in front of them.

She noticed he was quiet, casually stepping into the street when he noticed it was safe. She followed behind, eagerly awaiting his answer.

He wanted to say yes. He really did.

When he looked down at her, watching her fix her hair subtly in worry, he couldn't. Sasuke wanted to be neutral. Sasuke didn't take sides.

He let it linger a few moments longer, until he finally asked, "Do you think he'll ever like you back?"

Hinata answered immediately with, "Probably not..."

"Then yes."

She wasn't surprised or hurt to hear this; she knew it was coming. More than anything, she was glad that Sasuke didn't bother to lie to her, or even take pity on her.

"Y-you're right. It was a waste of time- -"

"That's not true," Sasuke retorted. "It gives you something to do. A goal. But," he started, reasoning with her, "if it's unattainable, it's not really a goal."

She nodded, pausing. "What's _your_ goal?"

He paused, searching for his words. "Mine?"

She nodded again, smiling and urging him to continue.

Looking away, he shook his head a little. "I don't have one."

"Y-yes you do! Everyone has a goal..." Hinata told him, continuing to press him.

"I'll tell you my hobbies instead."

If it was personal, Hinata didn't want to butt in. Instead, she accepted, listening to Sasuke talk.

"Guns. I like target practice. My brother would teach me to shoot when I was younger, sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" Hinata asked.

"He was busy a lot."

Judging by his use of words, his brother wasn't around anymore. Hinata knew better than to ask.

Sasuke took a deep breath in, looking at Hinata out of the corner of his eye. She had been searching the area, pointing to the intersection up ahead.

"That's my turn," she smiled. Sasuke slowed down a little, just noticeably. He didn't want to admit it, but he did enjoy talking to somebody for a change. "If... if you want to talk some more, we can. I-I might not be much help, but listening is one thing I'm good at..." she trailed off.

"Wait," Sasuke said, noticing she was starting to pick the pace up. He stopped near the street sign, facing her under the shade. "What's your opinion of me?"

He wanted to know. Cold, heartless, mean? He could handle anything.

She thought about it for a moment, taking the time to flash her eyes between his.

"Misunderstood," she finally said, giving him a small smile and turning to leave now. "I-I'll see you tomorrow," she waved.

He couldn't say anything, only just having time to raise his hand in a wave before she already had her back turned, walking down the next sidewalk.

She really wasn't that bad.

Now, to start walking home. They'd passed Sasuke's turn a long time ago.

./-

./-

./-


	5. Chapter 5

(A/N: I'm sick. I think it's because the degenerate in my Language Arts class coughed all over me. You should have seen my face- -I was not amused. Luckily I'm out of school now, so updates should come faster!)

_Stares and Bunsen Burners  
>Chapter 5<br>./-_

Everyone hated Mondays.

_Everyone._

... Except Naruto.

His happy sensation carried him through the florescent-lit hallways, making him almost float as he smiled brightly and wave to anyone who passed by, regardless of who they were. Janitors, teachers, underclassmen, it didn't matter.

Naruto was especially happy today, despite it being almost 7AM and the sun hadn't risen yet. He'd worn his new jacket to school, doubling the blinding effect that occurred when anyone had decided to take a look in his direction.

He padded down the hallways, grinning brightly and tugging on the ends of it. It was nice, new, crisp, and an even brighter orange than before- -if that was possible. He'd chosen the more mature version this time; black accents instead of blue. It was a few sizes bigger than before, and for one of the few times in his life, Naruto really felt like a _man_.

Sasuke was yawning and straightening his locker when Naruto appeared behind him, emitting a throaty chuckle to announce his presence.

Ignoring him, as usual, Sasuke continued to place the books calmly in his bag and ignore the idiot.

"Greetings, my peer," Naruto said, moving to Sasuke's side and giving him what he considered to be a mature bow of the head. "Is it not a beautiful morning, of which the light breaks over the mountaintops?"

Twitching, Sasuke had to ask, "Why are you talking like that?" Besides, there weren't any real mountains in the area.

Excluding Sasuke's ego, of course.

"I'm a man now, see?" Naruto stepped back to allow Sasuke to take in the 'bigger picture,' casually popping his collar and pulling a cool pose.

"Don't do that," Sasuke sighed, turning his attention back to his books.

"The popped collar thing? But Sasuke, you used to pop your collar all the time. Remember when you had that one white zip-up jacket and you would pop the collar, and it'd be so huge-"

"You know what day it is?"

"The 25th?"

"No, Naruto. It's Monday. You remember the rule I have about Monday, don't you?"

Naruto put a finger to his chin in thought, only barely having a few idiotic conclusions to blurt when he noticed a small girl approach them.

Clearing his throat, he decided it was time to put his new, mature personality in action.

Sasuke had only just opened his mouth to start speaking to Hinata, but Naruto cut him off by grabbing her attention- - and her hand,- -giving her a small, pleasant smile.

"My, is it not a pleasant morning, my sweet lad?"

"W-what?" Hinata asked. She had been called many things in her life, but it was obvious that she was a girl, not a lad. Still, Naruto continued.

"Yes, I awakened this morning and drank, like, five cups of tea." All the while, he had been moving their hands closer to his face, preparing to give her a proper kiss, but she twitched, yanking her hand away. He continued, unfazed, "Then I had like six more cups after I got ready for school- -"

Sasuke cut Naruto off again, already tired of hearing his voice.

"Shut. Up." He spoke low and fatal, his voice almost lethal to Naruto's ears. Hinata had even shivered a little, though she allowed her smile to still rest in confusion. Sasuke slammed his locker closed, the corner of his mouth twitching as he led Hinata away from the frozen idiot.

Scary.

It was then Naruto remembered what Sasuke's Monday rule was:

Do _not_ talk to him.

./-

./-

./-

When the day was halfway over, Naruto had given up his attempts at sounding older. Sakura had rolled her eyes at him, and when he realized people were just laughing instead of bowing down (as he originally thought), he threw that idea in the trash and burned it.

Sakura sighed at his attempts, glad to be in Calculus now where she could be free of his stupid outbursts.

Calculus was not her favorite subject, but Sasuke being in the same class made it all worthwhile. He always refused to work with her, or if she had sat down with him despite his protests, he would refuse to answer any of her questions.

To her knowledge, Sasuke had done the same to Hinata in the past, almost refusing to acknowledge her existence, but _why_ would he go and smile like that?

She had spent most of the day watching him more closely than she usually did, but for the life of her she could _not_ see what the difference was. He walked, talked, and even ate in the same stoic manner he had before. She hoped it was just a one-time thing, but when Iruka had allowed the class to work together on the worksheets he made, she watched him- -on his own free will- -get up, push a desk into Hinata's, and sit down.

The Hyuuga girl said nothing, only giving him a polite smile and picking up her own pencil to work.

Sakura twitched, feeling her face start to get more and more stern the longer she watched Sasuke sit and work with Hinata.

Unfair.

Really, not fair!

She got up, yanking her worksheet and calculator off her desk and walking over the two of them. Sasuke huffed and gave her a _you're-interrupting _look, but Sakura didn't care.

She held her pencil up, dropping it on Hinata's desk and making her jump.

"D-do you need help, Sakura?" Hinata watched Sakura pull up a desk, knocking it harshly into the other two that were already there.

Sasuke merely clenched his pencil tighter, trying to calm himself down.

"Yes. Number four?" Sakura gave Hinata fake smile. Hinata didn't notice, sliding Sakura's bright-pink worksheet closer to write down some equations.

Sakura barely listened to Hinata's explanation; preferring to look at Sasuke's perfect fingers slide over the calculator keys while he worked.

"... Okay?" Hinata ended, gently smiling and pushing the paper back onto Sakura's desk.

"Oh, yeah," she said, clearing her throat. "Thank you."

A few moments passed before Sakura looked up from her paper again. Sasuke and Hinata were both hard at work on the assignment, though every so often she would notice him look at Hinata's paper.

Hinata didn't realize this, being too focused, but every time he would look at her paper, he'd also let his gaze linger on her face for just the slightest moment. Then, it would disappear and he'd continue working like nothing happened.

Sakura couldn't figure out what made Hinata different. She was beautiful, sure, nice face, nice features, but she wasn't eye-popping gorgeous. She wasn't anything out of the ordinary, wild, or special.

It was so frustrating! Sakura wanted to scream, watching Sasuke reach his hand out and slip Hinata's paper next to his own to silently compare answers. He acted as if Sakura wasn't even there, which was what pissed Sakura off the most.

The bell rang not much later, and still, Sakura was no closer to figuring out what was going on between them.

She was going to figure this out: the key to Sasuke's attention.

./-

./-

./-

By Thursday, Sakura decided to change targets. Instead of following Sasuke around- - which was a dead end- -she'd have to follow Hinata.

She'd already tried asking her why Sasuke was getting close to her, but she had only answered with an unsatisfactory, "I-I don't know."

So here she was, hiding behind the hallway corners in the art department, observing any and all weird behavior Hinata showed.

So far she'd only taken a drink from the water fountain, gone to her locker, greeted a few people in the hallway, and now at the very conclusion of the school day she was wandering around the art department, sticking her head in a few classrooms.

Sakura stood still, wondering who Hinata was looking for. She didn't think it was Sasuke- -he didn't take art. It might be Naruto, though if he _was_ here she probably would have heard him by now.

She tried peeking around the corner again, but was interrupted by a loud, '_Ahem_.'

Jumping, she turned around and noticed Sasuke standing there, arms crossed.

"What are you doing?" he asked, peering at her. She noticed one of his perfect eyebrows twitch strangely, almost as if Sakura had caught _him _doing something.

She was about to ask him what business he had in the art hallway when a piercing crash made them both leap in surprise, followed by a loud, "_YESSSS!_"

A few pieces of what looked like unpainted clay slid into vision from the adjacent hallway and Sakura hurried to turn the corner.

It looked like a bomb had gone off: dust was clouding the hallway, settling over parts of the ground while the figures standing in the hallway were trying to protect themselves.

Hinata stood there with her hands covering her face- -surprised- -next to a black haired, pale boy Sakura knew to be Sai.

Low and behold, in the middle of the hallway was a blonde man, laughing delightfully over the shattered sections of clay.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, feeling a few pieces of torched clay crunch under her feet as she got closer.

"Art happened, yeah!" The blonde haired man grinned, gesturing to the pieces and looking rather proud of himself. "Isn't it nice?"

A red haired man appeared, shaking his head at the situation. "Deidara, I've told you, we're going to run out of clay soon if you keep using it like this."

"But, this one was nice, yeah!"

"You say that every time."

"Well, yeah, but this one was _really_ nice. Look how far the pieces went," he pointed, stopping just at Sakura and Sasuke's feet. His pointer finger trailed up their bodies, realizing they were standing there. "Hey! Did you see it?"

"No," Sasuke said, stepping over the broken pieces and making Deidara jump and laugh again. "Yes, destroy it more!" He made his way over to Hinata, who was in the process of taking a textbook from Sai. She was still a little shaken from the event; her eyes widened more than usual.

Sai looked as complacent as ever, bowing a little and putting on his famous fake smile.

A few more pieces of the clay snapped and a broom was thrown on the main pile of clay, crushing what looked to resemble a large bird's wing. The red haired man pointed to it, mouthing sternly, "_Clean it_."

Hinata pulled the book close to her, thanking Sai politely.

"A-ah, Sasuke, this is Sai," she said, noticing he had approached.

"Hello," Sai said, bowing.

"Deidara and Sasori teach art..." Hinata said, looking past him to the sweeping blonde man. Sasuke looked out of place in the decorated hallway, the jubilant paintings insisting on making him look like he was in a kindergarten classroom.

"Sculpture," Sai corrected.

"S-sculpture."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Sasuke. Naruto and Hinata talk a lot about you."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the boy, only managing to say, "I see," before Sakura had crossed over and changed Sai's attention.

"Hey..." He puts on his smile again, "Ugly."

"_Tch_," Sakura spat, putting her hands on her hips. "I said not to call me that."

Sasuke looked at the textbook in Hinata's hands, though she hid it, embarrassed. He reached a hand out, only managing to brush the cover before she pulled it back again, laughing strangely.

He narrows his eyes at her, not in the mood to play games. "What is that?"

"It's an art textbook," Sai answered.

Hinata jumped, trying to explain herself. "I was, m-maybe, thinking, that I could do my report for English on art?"

"I think it's a good idea," Sai said.

"... I think it's a great idea," Sasuke retorted, earning him a questioning look from Hinata.

"You said you didn't like art..."

"And? You can write a lot about that."

She nodded, tracing her finger along the spine of the book.

"I hope it helps you, cutie," Sai said, reaching forward to ruffle Hinata's hair. She let his fingers run through it for a short moment before moving back and looking sufficiently confused.

Sasuke looked horrified, twitching and voicing Hinata's question, "_What_ are you doing?"

"I read it in a book," he said, "It means you're being affectionate."

She started to blush, flattered. Sasuke grimaced. "I know what it means," he stated. Sai reached up to ruffle Sasuke's hair, but he quickly slapped Sai's hand out of the way. He didn't seem to mind it; he didn't look surprised it happened, either. It was a long shot.

Sasuke decided that he did not like this guy.

"Come, we're leaving," Sasuke announced, glancing to Hinata. He was halfway down the hallway when he heard Sakura's question:

"Where are you going?"

He stopped, waiting for Hinata to catch up, but being the polite person that she was, she had answered her truthfully with, "Home..."

Sasuke didn't want Sakura to figure out they had been walking home together; she'd ruin it by inviting herself. He liked the tranquility of it all. Sakura being there would throw the entire thing off balance.

Fortunately, Sakura had stayed quiet, too surprised to think of inviting herself to walk with the two of them.

He waited for Hinata to follow, seeing the blonde art teacher give him a small wave. He peered closer, noticing a bizarre tattoo on the man's hand. It looked like an open mouth with a tongue sticking out, but who would want to get a tattoo of that? On their palm, of all places?

_Weird_, he thought.

He didn't notice Hinata at his side, feeling a little embarrassed when she had to get his attention again.

He refused to acknowledge Sakura, wishing to hurry up and get out of the poorly decorated hallway.

There was a reason he didn't take art: he sucked at it. When somebody was better than him at something, he didn't like it. Sai was now on his list, being the school prodigy. His personality- -or, lack of one- -had only doubled this feeling.

The person in question gave a minute smile, making Sasuke narrow his eyes again.

"See you tomorrow, cutie!"

Sasuke really did _not _like this guy.

./-

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(:A/N: The beginnings of jealousy, maybe? It was my first time writing Sai, so I hope he was okay. Also, I want to thank everyone who has read, alerted, favorited, and reviewed this story. Really, it's so super duper uber awesome that this story is getting so much attention; I wasn't expecting this at all. I love you guys! I really do.)


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